Fishing with Little Fishes in Durango, CO.

July 11, 2017

Whether you’re an experienced fisherman or a wannabe, like me, Lonnie Malouff, owner of Little Fishes, is the person who can take you on a fishing adventure of a lifetime. Located in Durango, Colorado, Little Fishes has seven ponds and hugs the Animas River. A serene location above the water and filled with excitement below .

Annie and Lonnie looking at Little Fishes from the hill above the property.

Joe Quintana, a long-time skiing friend of Bruce Wienke, invited us to spend a few days fishing at his Q Ranch and with guide, Lonnie Malouff.

Joe and Susie Quintana, and Annie at the Q Ranch in Durango, CO.

Lonnie is passionate about fishing and wants to share his passion with others.

Navajo Lake:

On our first full day in Durango, we were up and loaded in Joe’s truck at 6:15 a.m. for the 1.5 ride to Navajo Lake which straddles the Colorado-New Mexico border. When we arrived, the boat was ready to go, fully equipped with casting rods and lures, snacks and drinks. Off we went to an area called Little Beaver. I needed some coaching from Lonnie on casting techniques. Before long, I was casting around in search of small mouth bass. As I hooked one, Lonnie instructed me in how to prevent loosing him. Once the fish was safely in the boat, it was time to catch another one. The next catch was a huge (for me anyway) small mouth bass.

I title this photo: What happiness looks like.

Around mid-afternoon, we called it good and headed back to Durango.

Little Fishes’ Ponds:

Bruce, Lonnie and Annie in the pontoon boat on the Animas River.

Lonnie has created a series of seven idyllic ponds on his Little Fishes property. The ponds contain Rainbow Trout. Initially, we took the pontoon boat down the Animas River. But, the river is still moving quickly from the snow melt so we didn’t have any luck catching a fish. Yesterday, at Navajo Lake, we were using spinning reels, but today was all fly fishing.

Lonnie giving Annie a fly fishing lesson.

I’m a novice fly fisherman, this being my first time to try this type of fishing. Lonnie has been most patient teaching me various techniques on casting the line.

Lonnie teaching Annie to tie knots. I think I could muddle thru sitting at a table, but I’m not sure if I could hit that loop while sitting in a boat in the middle of a river!

Lonnie taught me the names of some of the flies, but that’s another thing that will take some time to learn. He explained that the main thing is to “read” the river or pond. What type of “bugs” are flying or hatching. This, too, will take some time.

Lonnie gives Annie some flies for her new fishing vest. Thanks, Lonnie

Since the river was running so fast, Lonnie docked the pontoon boat and took us to one of his ponds. We climbed into his Dory and began fishing. No hits. Lonnie changed to different flies, but nothing seemed to interest the trout. Lonnie is a man of many tricks and finally, as the temperature cooled and the sun began to fade, the trout began to bite….

A beautiful Rainbow Trout from Lonnie’s pond. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trout this beautiful.

We concluded the evening with a terrific meal of smoked ribs, some great salads, cornbread, watermelon, and homemade buttermilk pie.

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About the Author:

In 2010, Annie Coburn created Fab Placez. In 2014, she changed the name of her website to FAB Senior Travel to better define her target audience, mature travelers. In order to provide diversity of locations and topics for her subscribers, she publishes travel articles from other writers, as well as her own.